Council tax - Liability Order

robinsonad86

Hope this is in the right place and will try to keep as brief as possible.

We moved into our house at the beginning of October and as it is a new build it didn't have a council tax band assigned to it. From the neighbours houses I knew the band etc however the council advised me to wait for a bill to be generated once the house had been assessed.

I received my council tax bill in Mid-November advising payments which would also cover the back payments for the time in the property whilst waiting for the banding to happen. The first payment was due in December. This weekend we received a court summons for non-payment where they are seeking a liability order for the total amount of over £800 (this is the tax until the end of the financial year) and have added a £95 charge to my account. I have looked back through my bank account and noticed the payment for December didn't go through. I remember attempting payment online on pay day which would have been "Black Friday" and I had a few card issues on this day when attempting to purchase gifts my card was declined multiple times on PC however funds were taken and eventually returned. I eventually had to order these gifts via my mobile and it worked fine. I must have naively assumed payment for the council tax had gone through and not bothered to check. As soon as I received this summons on Saturday and realised my mistake I have made the missing payment essentially bringing the account up to date with a balance now below £600.

I have contacted the council today and explained it was an accident and that payment has been made to bring the account up to date and that I would be very grateful if they would stop the court proceedings and also remove the additional charge from the account. They have said this is not possible that I could set up a payment plan but I would still have to pay the charge and they will still seek the liability order in court because the account had gone into arrears and despite me making payment is still in arrears for the total amount. When I have argued this and said it seems very unfair for one accidental missed payment which has now been rectified the woman I spoke to didn't seem interested and stated if I didn't set-up a payment plan the next actions once the liability order had been granted would be bailiffs (as far as I understand she is wrong in this regard as aslong as I make the correct payments bailiff action can't be enforced) Apparently I was sent a reminder in December however neither myself or my partner have opened this letter else it would have been dealt with there and then.

I asked how I can make a complaint regarding this as in my opinion this is very harsh and when other household bills are still high a £95 charge and court action for a one-off accident seems extreme. I haven't refused to pay and have tried to seek a resolution. I have been given an email address to send my complaint to however just wanted too see if anyone here can offer some advice or tell me if I am wasting my time before I send this across.

RAS

Speak to your local Councillor. They may be able to get it reverted to monthly payment. Then set up DDs for the new financial year.

robinsonad86

RAS said:

Speak to your local Councillor. They may be able to get it reverted to monthly payment. Then set up DDs for the new financial year.

Thanks I had considered my MP but this makes more sense

Kim_13

A taxpayer has to have received two reminder notices in the tax year and still fail to keep the account up to date before the right to pay in instalments is lost and the balance for the remainder of the tax year becomes due. The council don’t seem to be saying that they have sent a second remainder, so their adding £95 doesn’t seem to have any legal basis.

I would set up a direct debit (from something like a Chase account, which could be used to have a separate ‘pot’ with its own details for the Council Tax, and which doesn’t add any charges if a payment fails because they try to take more than they should.) I can sort of understand them being difficult if people miss payments and still refuse to set up a Direct Debit. The slate is wiped clean at the start of the financial year so you could revert to paying by Debit Card monthly then if you prefer.

badmemory

I was under the impression that with council tax if you miss one payment the whole amount becomes due.  I suspect that a letter saying that has been missed.

sourcrates

As long as you stick to the payments agreed with the council, no further enforcement action will happen.

All a liability order does is secure the councils position, it does not appear on your credit file, and won`t affect you in any other way.

The only downside is there will be the councils legal fees to pay, but the law on this is pretty much sewn up, if you don`t pay as instructed, no matter the reason why, they are well within their rights to take the action they are taking.

robinsonad86

Thanks all for the comments. I guarantee no reminder or warning was received else it would have been dealt with then as it was this weekend. I have no problem with setting up a payment plan my objection is a complete over reaction from the council. The hearing has been set for Febraury 6th surely if they so wished they have the power/authority to cancel this and the fee? I will as advised earlier contact my councillor

fatbelly

The easy way to contact your councillor is through

https://www.writetothem.com/

Of course the Council can reverse their decision. They should have sent a reminder 2 weeks after the missed payment, and a final notice if that was not complied with

Kim_13

I suspect the reminder was delayed/lost in the post - the postal service seems to be in one of its worst states in years at present. Plenty of coverage of Royal Mail prioritising parcels over letters.

If the council can evidence having sent a second reminder and final notice, there probably isn’t much that can be done - the odds of them all failing to arrive are much less. 

robinsonad86

Thanks Kim have contacted my two councillors (one Tory one Labour) earlier this evening and received a call back from one of them a couple of hours later saying he has escalated it. Will continue to update